Senior Iranian official tells Reuters a deal with the US is still far off

A senior Iranian official has told the Reuters news agency that Iran and the United States remain a long way from an agreement to end the war between them, and that Tehran will refuse what the official called Washington's "excessive demands." The Times of Israel reported the remarks, noting that they come amid intensified diplomacy, with Qatar serving as a central go-between, aimed at heading off a renewed round of open fighting after the US midterm elections.

The same comments were carried by several Israeli outlets citing Reuters, including N12's foreign desk and The Jerusalem Post. The official was not named in any of the reports.

What the official reportedly set as conditions

A fuller summary of the Reuters interview was posted by Abu Ali Express, an Israeli Telegram channel that tracks Arabic and Iranian media. According to that summary, the official said that if Washington wants the Strait of Hormuz reopened, it must first meet Tehran's terms, and that talks on Iran's nuclear programme could begin only after that. The official also reportedly said Iran is prepared to answer US strikes forcefully, both inside the region and beyond it, and that mediators are working hard to close the gaps between the two sides.

These specific points, on Hormuz, the sequencing of nuclear talks and the threat of retaliation, appear only in the Abu Ali Express account among the reports reviewed here. The other outlets reported the two core statements: that a deal is distant, and that the US demands are unacceptable to Tehran.

Strikes on Qeshm island

The remarks came hours after an American strike on Qeshm, an Iranian island in the Gulf lying close to the Strait of Hormuz. Ynet reported that US forces hit targets on the island overnight in response to fire directed at aircraft. Ynet also cited a report in The Wall Street Journal that the United States has for weeks been carrying out strikes inside Iran described as limited in scope and defensive in nature.

A US official, quoted in The Times of Israel's live coverage, said the Qeshm strike was aimed at "Iranians using surface to air missiles against US assets."

Why the Strait of Hormuz matters

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway connecting the Gulf to the open sea, and it is one of the most important shipping routes for oil and gas exports from Gulf producers. The official's reported linkage of the strait's reopening to US concessions suggests that access to it has become a bargaining point in the negotiations. The reports reviewed here do not describe the current state of shipping through the strait.

Qatar's role and Tehran's public line

Qatar, a small Gulf state that maintains working relations with both Washington and Tehran, has frequently acted as a channel between adversaries in the region. According to The Times of Israel, it is now a key intermediary in the contacts between Iran and the United States.

Ynet also reported comments from the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who said the ball is in America's court. Ynet's headline framed Iran's overall message as one of readiness for confrontation, quoting an Iranian warning that its hand is on the trigger.

How this fits the wider picture

Taken together, the reports describe a pattern of continuing military friction alongside indirect negotiation. Washington is striking Iranian positions it says threaten US forces, Tehran is warning of a forceful response, and Qatari mediation is under way in parallel. The senior official's comments indicate that, from Tehran's side at least, the positions remain far apart. For Israeli readers, the outcome matters directly: any return to active conflict between Iran and the United States would carry consequences across the region.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports specifies what the US demands that Iran rejects actually are, or what conditions Tehran wants met before reopening the Strait of Hormuz. No response from the US administration or from Qatar to the official's remarks has been reported, and the identity and position of the Iranian official remain undisclosed.